Court-martial underway in soldier's death

Dec. 11, 2012 - 10:51AM
|
Last Updated: Dec. 11, 2012 - 10:51AM |

Army Sgt. Vincinte L. Jackson is escorted into a military court building on the first day of his court-martial, Dec. 10, at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colo. Jackson is charged with one count of premeditated murder in the death of Spc. Brandy Fonteneaux, 4th Engineer Battalion, in an incident that occurred in early January. (Brennan Linsley / AP)

Related Reading

FORT CARSON, Colo. — An Army sergeant told an acquaintance he felt homicidal and suicidal the night before another soldier was found stabbed and choked to death in her barracks at Fort Carson, prosecutors said.

The allegation was made Monday during the first day of a court-martial for Sgt. Vincinte Jackson. He is charged with murder and premeditated murder in the death of Spc. Brandy Fonteneaux, of Houston.

Fonteneaux, 28, was found dead in her room on Jan. 8 at Fort Carson, an infantry post outside Colorado Springs.

The court-martial continued Tuesday.

The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported that Army prosecutor Capt. Rick Mathew told the military court on Monday that on the night of Jan. 6, Jackson had told another soldier: "I'm feeling homicidal. I'm feeling suicidal."

Investigators said Fonteneaux was killed early the next day. It wasn't clear whether the other soldier reported Jackson's alleged statement to anyone before the killing.

Jackson's lawyer, Capt. Melissa Dasgupta-Smith, said Jackson was sleep-deprived and had an out-of-body experience during the attack after mixing prescription drugs with whiskey.

"Things started to blur, and his perception became warped," Dasgupta-Smith said. Jackson had the sensation of watching himself in horror during the killing, she said.

Dasgupta-Smith said Jackson wrote a suicide note after Fonteneaux's death in which he apologized and said he did not intend to kill Fonteneaux.

He wrote that an antidepressant medication and alcohol "made me go deeper and deeper into a hole."

Authorities said that after Fonteneaux's body was discovered, Jackson was found lying face-down in his room, bloody from cutting himself, and had taken more medication. It wasn't immediately clear if his wounds were the result of a suicide attempt linked to his note.

If convicted, Jackson faces a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole in as few as 10 years to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Fonteneaux was a food-service specialist. Her family has said Jackson confided in her about his crumbling marriage but the two did not have a romantic relationship.